September 10, 2011

"Grippers" (how to get homeless without even trying #12)

Episode # 12 "Trick or Treat" (click on the "grippers" tab and scroll down for the previous 11 episodes)

Summer and the balance of September were gone and October had taken the time baton and charged forward. It was Halloween and the Sliders were now full fledged "Grippers" financially drowning and just barely "treading water" as they tried to avoid being sucked under and lost in the abyss of abject poverty. They had been tossed one lifeline which Tracey grabbed onto. Through her friend Judi's recommendation she had been hired as a part-time cashier at the local supermarket. She was working 20 hours a week and being paid $12.00 an hour. Her first bi-monthly paycheck had come in and she had received $390.00. At $780.00 a month they were now $256.00 a month better off than when receiving unemployment. The extra good news was that the possibility of being promoted to full-time was very real.

Bob, unable to collect unemployment, was moving around very slowly because of his injured back. He had qualified for medicaid through the Department of Children & Families and he was going to physical therapy three times a week. He was also taking oxycodone pills three times a day and had been prescribed xanax to help him "relax" . It had taken less than two months for him to become addicted to these pills. The once happy-go-lucky, vibrant, hard working husband and father had turned sullen and quiet and was absorbed in his own personal "pity party" telling his wife, "You just don't understand. You have no idea how much pain I'm in." He was wrong. She understood much more than he thought she did. She realized the pills had changed him dramatically and that all he seemed to be concerned about was having enough of them.

It was 8 p.m. on Halloween. Tracey was next door at Judi's and they had been greeting all the little "trick or treaters" since six o'clock. The onslaught of monsters and ghouls and super-heroes and various other creatures was almost down to a trickle so they went inside to have some coffee and chat. Tracey thought she heard Bob's truck start and hurried to Judi's front door. She was just in time to see his truck going down the street. Wonder where he's going, she thought. Hope he's all right.

He wasn't all right. Having taken too many xanax along with his oxycodone had caused him to "fall asleep" as he pulled into the convenience store a half mile from the house. He proceeded to unceremoniously smash into the side of a new Toyota Corolla. By 9:30 Bob was in handcuffs and on his way to jail. Charges were DUI with property damage. Tracey would not hear from him until 11:30. By then she was frantic about where he might be. When she heard her husband tell her that he needed to be bailed out of jail her mind went momentarily blank and she almost fainted. Fortunately, Judi and Tommy were both there. Judi, standing next to Tracey, quickly put her arm around her and helped her to sit down. She took the phone and began to gather the information from a nervous voiced Bob. Tommy quickly sat next to Jake who had started to cry. More dark days were ahead.

facebook

Book reviews & Other Things

Horizon Homeless (click on picture)

Horizon Homeless

There are millions of people across this great land of ours that are pre-homeless. Please say hello to Bob and Tracey Slider and their son, Jake. They are a composite of so many American families that cover our land from ‘sea to shining sea’. They are among the millions of unnoticed, hardworking, Americans, locked into survival mode while trying their best to do the “right thing” every day. What happens when they are confronted with circumstances which place them on a road heading downward where the horizon up ahead turns homeless? Can they make the turn and begin heading uphill? What choices will they make? What will determine their success or failure?

The Priest and the Peaches (click on book cover)

Smashwords 2.99 Kindle 2.99 Paper 14.99

The Priest and the Peaches

Historical fiction novel set in the Bronx in the mid-1960s

Yimey knew the secret to life. He made sure his family and friends did too. Even when his beloved wife, Elizabeth, died, he kept the faith. But the booze dulled the pain and he drank too much. Then he died and left his five children to fend for themselves. They did not understand why people were calling their dad a "great man". How could that be? Alcohol had killed him and he had left them alone. Who was this man they called "Pops" but everyone else called "Yimey".

Take a seven day journey with the five, newly orphaned Peach kids as they begin their struggle to remain a family while planning their dad's funeral.

The Demons of Abadon (click on book cover)

A supernatural thriller pitting Good against Evil culminating in a final battle on The Great Festival of Torment: Click on picture for preview

Book Cover: Slippery Willie's Stupid, Ugly Shoes

Buy "Slippery Willie's Stupid, Ugly Shoes"

Smashwords:$2.99

Kindle:$2.99

Slippery Willie's Stupid, Ugly Shoes

illustrated by Lisa Klug

Willie Wiggles hates his slippery feet. He just slips, slides and spins all over the place. But what he hates even more are the special shoes that have been made for him that will help him to walk just like all the other kids. Willie thinks that they are the "stupidest, ugliest shoes in the whole world."

Discover how sometimes we worry about things about ourselves when actually there is nothing to worry about in the first place.

$2.99
24 pgs.
ebook
ISBN 9781310987854
2011

"Adorable work!" - Tampa Tribune

email me (click on pic)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Basically, I am a “blue-collar guy”. It is the world I come from, a world of hard working, hard drinking construction workers, cops, longshoremen, firemen, railroad workers, bus drivers, truckers, sanitation workers, etc. who were, for the most part, family men who loved their God, their families and their country---unconditionally. Consequently, if you would ask me to describe my work as a writer I would call it “blue-collar” meaning that I believe my work is simple fair, easily readable, no-nonsense, minimally superlative, and flows quickly. There is lots of dialogue and my tendency to be omniscient is obvious. I think that is because the characters and I are part of each other and I know what they are thinking